Three weeks after the Mavericks won their championship, Davey Devlin went online and bought the rights to a Texas license plate that spells out “NBA MVP.”

“It was available, so it’s the only one that’s here in Texas,” said Devlin.

Devlin, who moved to Dallas from Ireland, has been trying to give the plates to Mavericks player Dirk Nowitzki who was named Most Valuable Player of the six-game NBA Finals series after the Mavs topped the Heat.

“I wanted to show my appreciation,” said Devlin, a big fan of Nowitzki. “He had a very similar situation in that he came over to America the same year I did, and he’s from Europe. He’s just been a hero of mine for a long time.”

The lockout, though, created a problem. As long as it was in place, Devlin says the team’s office couldn’t communicate with Nowitzki to share his offer.

“Now it seems like that’s getting resolved, it’s hopeful that here in the next few weeks I’ll be able to meet Dirk and give him his plates,“ said Devlin.